will a water softener reduce water pressure?

[goldmedalmother]

I want a water softener but not if it will affect water pressure. pigletjohn or other posters who have them, does they slow water flow?

it doesn't reduce pressure but it will reduce flow which is not the same thing. You can get larger connection hoses which reduce it less.

Have you got a water tank, or a combi?

Have you got a weedy electric shower? What is the thing that you are worried about?

There will be a pressure drop through it.

Dh loves his powerful shower and will complain if it turns into a dribble.

We have got a combi boiler and a tank plus normal boiler...long story. The shower dh uses feeds off the combi.

fill a bucket at the sink, time it, calculate how many litres per minute it is, tell me.

Will do but in a few days time as away at the moment...bear with me.

Just fitted a softener with a new combi boiler. Most powerful boiler we could buy was 20 litres per min but most powerful softener could only deal with 15.

Yes it will create a pressure drop.
But if the combi-boiler is operating off of a cold water tank it shouldn't matter.

If you were running an electric shower or combi running off mains
you could make sure you get a softener with an easy to operate bypass valve to use when showering.

Piglet - can't fit a bucket in the sink. Can I do it in the bath instead? I take it I need to use the hot tap?

Cumfy - I don't think the bypass would work as the shower concerned is a long way from where the softener would be (in the garage) so it'd be a pain to go and turn the valve on and off.

the cold tap will be fine, especially the sink (or garden) tap as it measures the amount of water coming into the house through the incoming main.

You can fill a washing-up bowl if you prefer it to a bucket.

an electric shower will not be a problem. They only give a weedy squirt of warm water so they don't need a lot of flow.

Also the soft water will prevent them getting clogged with scale.

We have a problem with our flow rate due to old lead pipework which we cant change.
I also wanted to get a water softener put in, would installing an accumulator help (we have a pressurised system)?

an accumulator gives a short-term improvement, while its pressure remains.

you would have to look at some manufacturers literature though as I don't know how many litres it would last for, depending on size.

I suppose the potential route for a replacement water pipe goes under concrete floors or something, or you live in a flat? No chance of moling, or going round the side of the house?

If you already have poor water flow, I don't think a softener would make much difference.

I just checked, I get 17 litres per minute from my utility room cold tap (not a mixer tap) and I have the standard small hoses and valves on my softener, not the wide bore ones.

Will do the bucket thing in a minute...back shortly.

The shower isn't electric...it's pretty powerful.

Right, the garden tap filled a large mop bucket (I'd guess 14 or 15 litres after googling similar ones) in 31 seconds.
So that'd be approx 28 to 30 litres a minute. It certainly looks like it belts water out at a good rate.

Let me know if that's feasible.

about twice as much as you need.

so it won't slow the shower down if we fit a softener - even if we need less it will annoy dh if it reduces his beloved shower's power...

squirt the shower into a bucket and see.

You can measure the actual capacity of your mop bucket by filling it with a kitchen measuring jug, or a saucepan of known capacity.

if you are buying a softener, ask if you han get large-bore hoses and valves to use with it - they will reduce constriction. I hear the all tend to use the same control mechanism as there is a big maker of parts.

Will do re the shower...

Hi Has anyone fitted aa watersoftner yet? If so what make did you go for? My builder seems to have a preference for some outrageously expensive one that costs about a grand - one of his main arguements is you can use block salt (easier) rather than having to fill from a sack. Would rather save £4/500 and use a jug/sack.

Please can anyone recommend a make?

Thank you